Snow removal from other than highways is a major and essential activity, involving small and medium size vehicles such as the small four-wheel drive vehicles known as Jeeps, or pickup trucks, equipped with removable snowplow blades for clearing snow from parking lots, service stations, driveways, and even sidewalks. The blades are generally of fixed length slightly greater than the width of the vehicle, and are supported by adjustable framework permitting the blade to be held against the ground or to be lifted well above the ground for transit to and from the place of use, and also permitting the blade to be perpendicular to the direction of motion for pushing snow ahead to an out of the way location or to be at an angle for pushing the snow to one side or the other.
Such blades are necessarily limited in length transversely of the vehicle for compliance with regulations as to overall dimensions of road vehicles and as to extent of projection beyond the vehicle structure, and also to permit passage through restricted spaces such as between gateposts or trees. The consequence is that effective snow removal generally requires many more trips of the vehicle, and therefore much greater expense than would be the case with longer snowplow blades on the same vehicle.
This problem has been dealt with in the past by equipping heavy vehicles specifically designed for snow removal with wings or extensions which can be extended or retracted by mechanism actuated from the driver's location, to suit the condition which may be encountered. For smaller vehicles, some use has been made of extensions which can be bolted to one or both ends of the snowplow blade when needed, and stowed in the body of the vehicle when not needed. The former mechanized adjustment of width is far too expensive for other than highway use, and the latter is too cumbersome and inconvenient because of the need for tools, the likelihood of loss of the nuts and bolts, and the problem of finding a satisfactory stowage location when the extensions are not being used. The consequence is that almost all snow removal is carried out with snowplow blades of fixed length.